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Matt Crafton qualifies in record time at Martinsville: NASCAR Trucks

October 28, 2011

Matt Crafton qualified in record time at Martinsville. Photo by NASCAR

Chevrolet driver Matt Crafton set a track record in winning the pole for Saturday afternoon's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway. His pole-winning lap of 19.653 seconds (96.352 miles per hour) beat the old record of 19.658 seconds ( 96.327 mph) set by Jack Sprague in 2008.

Four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. was second-fastest in his Chevrolet, then the Toyota of Denny Hamlin and the Chevys of Johnny Sauter and James Buescher completed the top-five. The Chevy of Kevin Harvick, Toyota of Todd Bodine, Chevy of Justin Lofton, Toyota of Timothy Peters and Chevy of points-leader Austin Dillon completed the top 10. Jennifer Jo Cobb and Charles Vest were the only drivers to miss the show.

The 200-lap race at the flat, half-mile track in southern Virginia is the 23rd on the 25-race Truck Series schedule. Dillon goes into it with a three-point lead over Buescher, a 14-lead over Sauter and a 16-point lead over Hornaday Jr. After Saturday afternoon's race, the Truck Series is at Fort Worth on Nov. 4 and Homestead on Nov. 18.